| No more weekends off: P’s & C’s reporting
The great L.A. Times scribe Jim Murray once said, "Spring is the time of year when the ground thaws, trees bud, the income tax falls due — and everybody wins the pennant." And so it is that your correspondent, memorably dubbed as the faux "crusading everyman" by one of our angrier blog participants, has already done his taxes, an annual end-of-January ritual before heading to spring training and being immersed in a six-week world where normal life is put on hold and baseball takes precedence over all else. We'll be headed down Wednesday, a day before pitchers and catchers are officially required to report. Need some time to stock the fridge of the rental house and get a lay of the land in our new neighborhood, plus stop by the ballpark at Dark Star to see how many eager Braves arrived early.
'Stars' obscured by clouds
The time has come for "Dancing With the Stars" to change its name. Presumably they decided against "Dancing With the Has-Beens, Aging Athletes Out of Their Element and Women Dealing With Personal Tragedies" because it was too long. Let's just be thankful they stopped hiring "Beverly Hills, 90210" alumni before they got to Shannen Doherty. .
New blow for Wendy Alexander as key aide quits
While we cannot comment on any individual case which may or may not be under investigation, we have no reason to believe that any member has been provided with erroneous advice from officials." Dr Dyer issued a statement yesterday insisting he had no option but to refer Ms Alexander's case to the procurator- fiscal once he believed the rules had been broken. He said: "I am not a final arbiter of what should be counted as a registrable interest - that is, in the end, a matter for the parliament and in some cases the courts." A former deputy leader of the SNP also waded into the row by claiming Dr Dyer owed Ms Alexander an apology. Jim Sillars said: "If I had been in Wendy Alexander's shoes this weekend, I would have sought judicial review of the administrative process and actions taken by the office, and person, of the Standards Commissioner in relation to this decision to make a referral to the procurator-fiscal." .
Beefeater revamp lifts Whitbread
Leisure group Whitbread said its Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurants have seen sales pick up despite an uncertain consumer outlook. The two chains' like-for-like sales of 0.8% for the 50 weeks to February 14 compared with the 0.4% reported in November. Whitbread, which has spent £45 million on an overhaul of its 129 Beefeaters, said it was gaining higher margins across its restaurants. The group's overall trading was spearheaded by its Premier Inn hotel chain, which enjoyed comparative sales growth of 10.5% over the period. The company, which also saw strong sales growth from its Costa Coffee chain, saw overall like-for-likes increase 5.7%. Shares rose almost 7% as investors welcomed the update. Chief executive Alan Parker said: "These results show that trading in our businesses has been resilient and we continue to perform well." Panmure Gordon analyst Douglas Jack held out hopes of more to come from the restaurant business following Whitbread's "strong" update.
|
